Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of today's Premier League action. There may only be two games on offer, but quantity doesn't matter when you have the quality of (third-placed) Chelsea locking horns with (seventh-placed) Manchester United.

Granted, it may not have the importance of other meetings between the two clubs this past decade, but three points will be almost as important to the pair; Chelsea need them to keep pace with Manchester City and Arsenal, while Manchester United and David Moyes want them just to keep their heads above the impressively deep waters the club are used to swimming in. And, in the worse case scenario, it can't be any worse that their first meeting this season. It's live at Stamford Bridge from 4pm.

First, however, it's to Swansea where Tottenham are in town and chasing a fifth straight away win that will be their best run on the road for over 50 years, and will take them level with Liverpool in fourth. More of the same from Spurs, and everyone...well, some...well, I will owe Tim Sherwood an apology. However, the Swans need for a result is just as great if they are to avoid being sucked right into what has become a murky pool of muck at the foot of the league. This one should be easy on the eye, and it starts at half past one.

Stay with us for all the up-to-the-minute news and scores, and if you want to have your say on either game or anything Premier League, tweet @sammydymond or email sam.dymond@gmail.com.

1/19/2014 12:57:46 PM

The teams are in at the Liberty Stadium, and there's a single change each for both Swansea and Tottenham from their last Premier League outing. The Swans have brought Chico comes into their side for the injured Jose Canas while there is a Spurs start for Nacer Chadli which means Roberto Soldado drops to the bench. Does that mean a shift of formation for Tim Sherwood from his old school 4-4-2?

Aaron Lennon arrives at the Liberty Stadium, still incredibly pleased with his Christmas wash bag.

1/19/2014 1:21:59 PM

Speaking pre-match for Sky Sports, Graeme Souness has become the latest expert to declare the Europa League as the sole reason behind Swansea's troubles this season. "It's a nightmare for clubs of Swansea's size," he said, conveniently forgetting about the campaigns where clubs of Swansea's size - Middlesbrough and Fulham - had an unforgettable time in reaching the final of the competition while finishing mid-table in the Premier League.

1/19/2014 1:28:06 PM

Swansea 0 Tottenham 0: And we're off...

1/19/2014 1:31:07 PM

Swansea 0 Tottenham 0: The home side have started impressively well, playing the neat, one-touch possession football that has become their schtick. Wayne Routledge and Alejandro Pozuelo have been at the heart of it, but who knows what part of the anatomy Jonjo Shelvey is playing. The former Liverpool midfielder has blasted two long range efforts high and wide in the opening six minutes.

1/19/2014 1:37:39 PM

Swansea 0 Tottenham 0: Third time lucky from Shelvey, who manages to evade the challenge of Vlad Chiriches while making the defender look pretty silly in the process before unleashing an another effort from 20 yards towards goal. This one is on target, but it's comfortably beaten away by Hugo Lloris.

1/19/2014 1:45:14 PM

Swansea 0 Tottenham 0: Michael Laudrup has clearly instructed his side to shoot on sight this afternoon because Wilfried Bony has just registered his team's fifth attempt of the game, and all of those have come from outside the box. One was even courtesy of little Leon Britton, his first shot of the season.

However, only one has troubled Lloris.

1/19/2014 1:52:52 PM

Swansea 0 Tottenham 0: Ooof! Bony has another go from long range and this one has Lloris well beaten, but it cracks against the crossbar and rebounds to safety. Shelvey played in the Ivorian striker, who did brilliantly to make space around Michael Dawson and fire his shot away from 25 yards out. Extremely unlucky.

GOAL! Swansea 0 Tottenham 1: "Perhaps against the run of play," says Niall Quinn. There's no perhaps about it! Tottenham have the lead and it's completely against the run of play, but that doesn't detract from what was a very well worked goal. Christian Eriksen and Aaron Lennon exchanged a myriad of passes on the right wing, before the Dane sent an inviting curling cross over the Swansea defence to the back post. Nacer Chadli couldn't reach it, but Emmanuel Adebayor could, and the Togolese striker's downward header beat Gerhard Tremmel and bounced up into the roof of the net.

1/19/2014 2:04:57 PM

Swansea 0 Tottenham 1: Spurs have threatened to take charge since taking that undeserved lead, and Chadli, Adeabayor and Danny Rose have all had a go at doubling the away side's lead. Some have come closer than others, mind you, and there may be a lengthy delay while the ballboys go in search of the left-back's shot.

1/19/2014 2:13:49 PM

Swansea 0 Tottenham 1: In the final minute of stoppage time at the end of the first half, Wayne Routledge had a sight of goal following a clever one-two with Pozuelo. However, just as the winger was about to take aim, Dawson thundered in with an excellent recovery tackle which will see Spurs carry their lead to the break.

1/19/2014 2:19:54 PM

Half-time - Swansea 0 Tottenham 1: In what has almost become the theme of the weekend, Swansea have dominated the early stages of this game but failed to make their possession and long range efforts on goal count and, instead, go in at half-time 1-0 down after falling to a counter attack. Since Adebayor's opener, the switch in the belief of both sides has been obvious, and it will be intriguing to see if Michael Laudrup can reinvigorate his team for the second half.

1/19/2014 2:20:01 PM

Swansea 0 Tottenham 1: The second half is underway at the Liberty Stadium, and there's no immediate upturn in fortune for the Swans. In fact, it's just further bad luck. In the same move, Jordi Amat was booked for clattering Chiriches, but more of a concern was Shelvey pulling up with a hamstring injury. The midfielder is unable to continue and has been replaced by Roland Lamah.

Meanwhile, Tottenham fan Ian Wilkinson is getting carried away and tweets “The lads look all set to go level with Liverpool this weekend #cyos”, provoking images of Michael Dawson, Kyle Walker and co decked out in Ben Sherman shirts, downing jagerbombs and having some top, top banter. Cyos must be the name of a Greek 18-30 holiday hotspot, which will mean Brad Freidel will have to stay at home and look after the dogs.

1/19/2014 2:42:14 PM

GOAL! Swansea 0 Tottenham 2: And it goes from bad to worse for Swansea! The home side were still regaining their shape after that enforced change, and when substitute Lamah gave Walker too much space down the right flank, the full-back drilled a cross low across goal that Chico Flores couldn't evade. The ball crashed into the defender and straight into the back of Tremmel's net for an own goal.

Swansea 0 Tottenham 2: Chico goes close at the right end, but he can't keep his header down from Lamah's corner and the ball sails over the crossbar.

Moments later, Bony ends up in Martin Atkinson's notebook for challenging Chiriches, and catching the Romanian full in the face with his head. It's a harsh yellow card, but it did provoke some wonderful am-dram theatrics from nearby Danny Rose, who couldn't hide his shock.

1/19/2014 2:59:17 PM

GOAL! Swansea 0 Tottenham 3: Emmanuel Adebayor was furious moments ago after Mousa Dembele refused to set him up for a simple second goal, but he's smiling now because Danny Rose has done just that. Tottenham are pulling the Swansea defence apart now, and once Eriksen had set the left back rampaging down the wing, the square ball to the unmarked striker was obvious. Adebayor took one touch to control Rose's pass, before side footing pass Tremmel.

1/19/2014 2:59:28 PM

Kyle Walker takes credit for a goal he didn't score.

1/19/2014 3:05:30 PM

GOAL! Swansea 1 Tottenham 3: Consolation or lifeline? Swansea have a goal with 12 minutes of normal play left thanks to an excellent finish from Wilfried Bony. The Spurs defence failed to deal with the ball bobbling around their area, and when it fell to Lamah on the left, the Belgian completely mis-kicked his shot to Bony 14 yards out. The Ivorian's finish was as good as the substitute's was bad, and his side footed effort flew past Lloris and into the bottom right hand corner.

1/19/2014 3:06:32 PM

The teams are in from Stamford Bridge. Jose Mourinho makes two changes to the Chelsea team that won at Hull with Branislav Ivanovic and Samuel Eto'o coming in for Ashley Cole and Fernando Torres while Manchester United make three switches. In comes Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Ashley Young at the expense of Chris Smalling, Darren Fletcher and Shinji Kagawa.

Swansea 1 Tottenham 3: Spurs are seeing the game out inside the final few minutes of stoppage time, and new manager Tim Sherwood has steered them to five straight away wins in the top flight; a feat they haven't managed since 1960/61. They won the league that season. Just saying.

1/19/2014 3:21:54 PM

Emmanuel Adebayor seals the deal.

1/19/2014 3:22:48 PM

Full Time - Swansea 1 Tottenham 3: Martin Atkinson calls time on affairs at the Liberty Stadium, and, in the end, it was a comfortable victory for Tottenham that you wouldn't have called half an hour in. Emmanuel Adebayor did what he does best, namely go missing for long periods when his side were under pressure, argue with teammates but, ultimately, brilliantly finish the two opportunities that came his way. His goals ensured Spurs leave South Wales with maximum points, and it extends their run on the road to five straight wins which takes them level with Liverpool in fourth.

For Swansea, meanwhile, it was another afternoon that produced much but ended in disappointment. Wilfried Bony was, once again, excellent, but it wasn't enough and Michael Laudrup will be scratching his ever-so-clever head as he ponders what next. The Swans are just three points off the bottom and face another troubled club Fulham at home on Tuesday, most likely without Jonjo Shelvey who departed this game with a muscle problem.

1/19/2014 3:24:27 PM

And so to Stamford Bridge for a fixture formerly known as a title decider. If you want a betting perspective into how far Manchester United have fallen behind Chelsea, here's Bruce Millington, the editor of the Racing Post...

There isn't much talk about Chelsea full-back Cesar Azpilicueta in the build up to today's game, but as Miguel Delaney explains, the Spaniard, who was by no means first choice when Jose Mourinho returned to Stamford Bridge, is now a key part of the side and has an extremely important role this afternoon...

Today against the struggling champions Manchester United, Azpilicueta will likely be in the line of fire, charged with either keeping down the electric Adnan Januzaj or preventing David Moyes’ more prosaic tactic of trying work most attacks down the wing.

Indisputably, football's worst ever fad. Can we not just bring back the inflatables from the 1980s?

1/19/2014 3:53:35 PM

Manchester United may be marooned down in seventh place, but as manager David Moyes told Simon Hart, they haven't given up on retaining their title just yet, and know exactly the teams that they have to get the better off...

“At the moment, the teams to beat are Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal,” Moyes reflected. “Liverpool are having a really good season, Everton are having a terrific season.”

Chelsea 0 Manchester United 0: The teams are out on the pitch, the crowd are on their feet, excitement levels are rising and Sky have gone to an ad break. Kick-off is just moments away...

1/19/2014 3:59:22 PM

Chelsea 0 Manchester United 0: ...and it's live!

1/19/2014 4:00:25 PM

Chelsea 0 Manchester United 0: Ashley Young has had each of his touches booed by the Chelsea support in the first two minutes, but he nearly responded in the best possible way with the opening goal. Michael Carrick switched play to the United winger on the left and, after a quick one-two with Danny Welbeck, he crept into the area and struck a shot that was palmed away by Petr Cech.

1/19/2014 4:05:09 PM

Chelsea 0 Manchester United 0: United have continued to press and dominate the opening exchanges, but have failed to register another attempt since that early Young opportunity. However, Rafael and Antonio Valencia have threatened to make inroads down the right flank as the visitors look to force an opening.

Meanwhile, Phil Jones escapes a booking after David Luiz brings down Eden Hazard. Yes, you read that correctly.

1/19/2014 4:13:16 PM

GOAL! Chelsea 1 Manchester United 0: Chelsea are in front! Once again this weekend, it's a goal against the run of play. Samuel Eto'o took hold of the ball out wide on the right, and didn't look a threat, but Phil Jones allowed him to drift inside (and momentarily into 2006), and fire a looping shot over David De Gea's outstretched arm and into the top left hand corner. Replays show that the shot did take a vital deflection off the boot of Michael Carrick, but the Cameroonian won't care one iota about that.

1/19/2014 4:16:51 PM

The Independent's Sam Wallace has the perfect vantage point at Stamford Bridge, but I can't believe what he's seen here because this really doesn't sound like Jose Mourinho...

Chelsea 1 Manchester United 0: Despite falling behind, United are still endeavouring to make the most of the running. Oscar loses possession to Patrice Evra in a dangerous area, and the French left-back marauds towards goal before firing a shot into the side netting. However, it's not even enough to bring any mistaken cheers or ooohs from the crowd though, and the defender perhaps should have looked for a teammate in the middle.

Chelsea 1 Manchester United 0: Fan favourite Ashley Young sees yellow for cynically bringing down Ramires, and joins David Luiz in the book. The Brazilian was cautioned shortly after the goal for clashing with Antonia Valencia, and has been on the receiving end of a touchline verbal volley from his manager for not holding his position.

1/19/2014 4:39:31 PM

Chelsea 1 Manchester United 0: A good opportunity goes begging for United. Adnan Januzaj causes chaos in the Chelsea six yard box with a low delivery, and when the ball falls for Welbeck, the striker is unable to dig out a proper powerful shot under the close scrutiny of Cesar Azpilicueta, allowing Cech to collect without difficulty.

At the other end, Oscar shows off his Brazilian passport with a acrobatic bicycle kick, but is well off target and Chelsea's lead stays at a single goal.

1/19/2014 4:44:34 PM

GOAL! Chelsea 2 Manchester United 0: On the stroke of half-time, Chelsea have a second! United thought they had done their immediate job by clearing a corner, but their defence were slow in getting out and gave Ramires plenty of time to pick a pass to Gary Cahill on the right hand side of the box. From there, the defender's low centre across goal was turned in from six yards by Samuel Eto'o, through the body of David De Gea,for his and Chelsea's second of the game.

1/19/2014 4:45:12 PM

Half-time - Chelsea 2 Manchester United 0: The whistle goes for half-time, and the Blues are sitting comfortably. It's been a decent display from Manchester United but, unlike the hosts, they haven't taken the opportunities when they have presented themselves and it will take a monumental effort to get back into the match from here. Anybody would think they were missing their two star strikers.

1/19/2014 4:48:50 PM

Samuel Eto'o bags his second just before the break.

1/19/2014 4:57:40 PM

Is a second half comeback beyond Manchester United? They've certainly got the know-how...

Chelsea 2 Manchester United 0: Manchester United's players were out very early for the restart of game that has now got back underway. Either David Moyes has sent them out with clear instructions ringing in their ears, or he simply ran out of inspirational words in the 15 minute break.

1/19/2014 5:05:26 PM

GOAL! Chelsea 3 Manchester United 0: That half-time talk hasn't amounted to much, and Chelsea have surely sealed victory four minutes into the second half. Gary Cahill was gifted a free header from Willian's right-hand corner which De Gea could only keep out off the line with his elbow, and there are no guesses as to who was first to the rebound. Despite the extremely close attentions of Valencia, Samuel Eto'o was in the right place to smash the ball into the back of the net for his first hat-trick for the club.

1/19/2014 5:06:50 PM

With that goal, Samuel Eto'o not only gets to keep the match ball, but he also joins such highly regarded luminaries as David Bentley, Dirk Kuyt and Somen Tchoyi...

Sir Alex Ferguson and Mick Hucknall at Stamford Bridge: *Insert joke about Manchester United holding back the years here*

1/19/2014 5:20:48 PM

Chelsea 3 Manchester United 0: Javier Hernandez has come on for the visitors in place of Ashley Young to offer some assistance for Danny Welbeck in attack, but the game is surely out of United's reach now. The good news for the Old Trafford faithful is that Wayne Rooney is likely to make an appearance for their Capital One Cup semi-final second leg against Sunderland on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Chelsea look in complete control and Jose Mourinho has introduced Jon Obi Mikel for Oscar to shore up the midfield and close the game our in the final 25 minutes.

1/19/2014 5:26:57 PM

Chelsea 3 Manchester United 0: Petr Cech momentarily thinks that he's as good as the blokes up the front, and tries to dribble past Hernandez in his own six yard box. It nearly goes spectacularly wrong, but the Chelsea keeper just about gets away with it...until he gets back into the dressing room, that is. Jose was not impressed.

1/19/2014 5:30:57 PM

GOAL! Chelsea 3 Manchester United 1: Maybe, just maybe. United have a goal back as Javier Hernandez converts in typical Javier Hernandez style. After collecting Antonio Valencia's pass, Danny Welbeck burst into the Chelsea area and pulled the ball back for Phil Jones. The midfielder's shot was curling away from the far post, but the Mexican substitute dived in to divert home from close range. Game on? Maybe not.

1/19/2014 5:35:55 PM

Hold up folks, we've got one of the Chelsea coaching staff in charge of the club's official Twitter feed...

Chelsea 3 Manchester United 1: Hat-trick hero Samuel Eto'o takes his applause from the home crowd as he departs to be replaced by Fernando Torres, and it doesn't take the Spanish striker long to get into the swing of things. And by that, I mean getting injured. As the game enters stoppage time, Torres wants to hobble off, but his manager won't let him. Run it off.

Meanwhile, Ronnie McFarlane asks whether anybody has scored four. It's a good question, or at least it would be if I knew what it was in reference to. Nobody has today, but I imagine Ronnie's referring to Premier League hat-tricks for the season in which case the answer is yes. Luis Suarez bagged a four goal haul against Norwich on a night when I failed to make him my Fantasy League captain.

1/19/2014 5:48:45 PM

RED CARD! Chelsea 3 Manchester United 1: No Manchester United debacle is ever truly complete without a Nemanja Vidic red card, and the Serbian has obliged in the second minute of injury time. Eden Hazard ran at and teased the visiting defence, and the United captain dived in and swept the Belgian's feet away from under him. A yellow card may have sufficed, but Phil Dowd had no hesitation in producing a red.

Sky Sports' anchor (Come on, behave. I said anchor...) Geoff Shreeves quizzes Eto'o in the post-match interview, but panics when the striker replies only in French. With no bilingual experts on hand, Shreeves looks to the Chelsea defender to make sense of the Man of the Match's revelations. Natuarlly, Terry's translations are almost as bad as that overweight steward they got in to help out Claudio Ranieri when he first arrived at Stamford Bridge.

1/19/2014 6:07:34 PM

It's safe to say that Nemanja Vidic cannot believe his sending off.

1/19/2014 6:10:55 PM

It's hard to condone putting the foot into someone when they're down, but this is an astonishing statistic...

...if only there was some way in which we could get David Moyes to manage away at this Manchester United.

1/19/2014 6:14:10 PM

They say it's a marathon not a sprint, but that's usually in relation to the season as a whole, yet that phrase had a certain relevance to both Premier League games this Sunday afternoon. We saw two teams fly out of the blocks in the opening stages, only to weaken and end up comfortably beaten.

Swansea were first to fall despite their early dominance as Emmanuel Adebayor's double fired Tottenham to three points that take them level with fourth placed Liverpool, while also ensuring their best away form for more than 50 years. The 3-1 defeat, meanwhile, has left the Swans in a perilous position. Rooted in 15th and just three points off the bottom, Michael Laudrup's team have much to do if they are to avoid being completely sucked into a relegation battle in the second half of the season. Unfortunately for the Danish coach, it looks like he'll have to do it in the short team without Jonjo Shelvey, who limped off earlier today with a hamstring injury.

At Stamford Bridge, Manchester United could have been in front within two minutes, but Petr Cech denied Ashley Young and then Samuel Eto'o got to work. The Cameroonian striker, favoured ahead of Fernando Torres, fired his first hat-trick since joining Chelsea, and helped his club to one of their most straightforward victories over the Red Devils in years. David Moyes' misery was complete when Nemanja Vidic saw red, metaphorically and then literally, when hacking down Eden Hazard in injury time. The United captain will now miss three games due to suspension, but it could have been ever worse had referee Phil Dowd issued the same punishment to Rafael for his reckless challenge on Gary Cahill seconds later.

Chelsea's win keeps them a point behind Manchester City and two behind leaders Arsenal as the title race continues to hint at a most exciting conclusion, but it's one that won't feature Manchester United. The Old Trafford club remain in seventh position, but they are now 14 points off the pace.

There's still one final game in the Premier League this weekend, and it comes tomorrow night when West Bromwich Albion, under the new management of Pepe Mel, welcome Everton to the Hawthorns. Meanwhile, we'll be back a week on Tuesday to cover the full midweek schedule of fixtures in the top flight. Until then, thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of your weekend.